Marcy Fox

Love, love the show. Here's a reflection after today's presentation... Cancel Culture or Accountable Culture… About 15 years ago I was walking through China Town in San Francisco on a sunny fall afternoon in search of items to engage my four World Religions classes as we started our unit on Confucianism. To my utter surprise and delight on a table titled $1 dollar I found exactly four bags of fortune cookies titled “Confucian Sayings.” Four dollars for a thrifty teacher, I couldn’t resist. As my seniors in high school assembled and settled down after a student led prayer, I began distributing the fortune cookies. Each was individually wrapped. “Do not open them until I tell you.” The class was just before lunch. I observed how difficult this was for them, growing teenagers that they were. “OK, you can open them now but save the ‘fortune.’ We will go around the room and you can read yours aloud.” I didn’t tell them that each contained a wise saying from the great philosopher, Confucius rather than a personal prediction. “Sam, you can begin. Please read it loud enough so we can all hear you.” There was a pause. Also, the class seemed rather intent on reading their small slips of paper nestled in their cookies. “Dr. Fox, do you really want me to read this out loud?” I walked over to his desk. I read the “saying” and gasped. Returning to my desk, I picked up the bag of cookies and read the very small print. “Pornographic sayings” was written in small blue letters above the large name, Confucius. I immediately gathered up the slips of pornography that I distributed. We all laughed as I told the story of my mistake. That was the end of it. In the subsequent years when we began Confucianism, I retold this story. I then asked them what they think might happen in this age of mass communication. Yes, it would be posted on a social network. I would be severely accused of gross negligence. Perhaps I might have been fired. Yet, I was able to complete many more years of teaching, long enough to receive the “Inspirational Mentor of the Year” award given by alums. I look back on my fifty years of teaching. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the amazing lives set before me. I am also grateful that my mistakes did not become moments of public shaming. Yes, we do need to curb our seeming fascination with the faults of others.